


birds of a feather

by whichlights



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dysphoria, F/M, Genderfluid Mollymauk Tealeaf, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Mollymauk Tealeaf, Other, Trans Caleb Widogast, cool kids dont “catch up” with critical role they write fics when they finish episode eight, kill ur deadname. just fuckin burn it its the only way.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-29 03:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14463945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichlights/pseuds/whichlights
Summary: Caleb goes to the beach and meets a stranger who likes to burn things in the middle of the night.





	birds of a feather

**Author's Note:**

> i havent actually caught up with critical role lol i just love these two
> 
> re the self harm tag- its never shown on page but does happen in the time line, and it is discussed briefly and there are mentions of the scars leftover. There are also discussions of dysphoria bc i love projecting my issues. stay safe and lmk if i need to up the rating

It was the first day after the move that Caleb had time to go to the beach and look at the stars.

He’d been busy for the past week and a half- moving wasn’t exactly easy, but he was used to it. It did put a damper on his down time, and now he was here, sand softly crunching under his sneakers as he looked for somewhere to set up his telescope. From down the beach, he heard a loud _whoop_ , and chalked it up to some teenagers throwing a party. But then he looked and there was just one shape, yelling something at the ocean, the words lost to the roar of the waves.

Caleb, despite his better judgement, walked closer.

He got closer and caught his breath. The figure was lighting something on fire, occasionally letting out a defiant scream. Caleb started to back away, but then they looked at him.

Curly black hair, a single streak of bright purple running through it. Ears pierced, piercings that glittered in the light of the fire, in gold and silver. Light brown skin, and sharp eyes and a sharp grin. They waved out the burning thing- a piece of paper -and offered a sooty hand to Caleb. “Hi.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt-“ Caleb started. The figure tssked. They were barefoot and wearing ripped black skinny jeans and a T-shirt tie-dyed in blue, pink, white, pink, blue with a grey jacket on top. A tattoo curled on their neck, even up to their face. Caleb tried not to stare at the peacock feathers curling on their cheek.

“You’re not interrupting anything. I don’t come out here for the privacy.” They shrugged. “Name’s Mollymauk. You can call me Molly if you prefer. They/them.”

“Caleb.” He held out his hand, then awkwardly added, “he/him.”

Molly nodded and grabbed another piece of paper, plopping down on the sand to write on it in rapid, angry pen strokes.

“What are you _doing_?” Caleb finally asked.

They let out a low hum, continuing to write. Caleb worried they were going to rip the paper with the pen, then realized this paper’s only purpose was to burn so it didn’t matter. “Killing someone who was never real,” Molly said with a vicious grin. There was a silver piercing on their tongue. “Because _fuck my deadname!_ ” They screamed, then laughed. “I love it out here. The ocean doesn’t judge. It doesn’t hurt. It just accepts my screams and buries them at the bottom of the sea with that damn name.”

Molly lit a match and the light made their eyes flare up almost red for a heartbeat. They set their paper on fire and watched it burn.

Caleb shuffled his feet. Molly looked at him with their head tilted to the side. It was ridiculously cute, Caleb noted. “What about you?” Molly asked. “What brings you out here?”

“Stars.” Caleb gestured to the telescope bag strapped to his back.

“That’s badass,” Molly said. “Science, aesthetic, or other?”

“What?”

Molly stretched, standing up. Their shirt rode up when they did, revealing a gleaming belly button ring. Exactly how many piercings did this person have? “You know. Are you looking at the stars for scientific reasons, astrological and zodiac-like reasons, or just because you like to?”

“Seems like a bit of a personal question,” Caleb mumbled. “But I just like looking at the stars.”

Molly hummed again. Their paper had burned out by now, and they started to write on another one.

“I’m going to… go look at stars,” Caleb stumbled over his words, pointing off to the distance.

“By all means, don’t let me stop you,” Molly said, already lighting another match.

Caleb set up, and he couldn’t help but smile every time he heard Mollymauk scream out their defiance to the sea.

———

Caleb came back two days later, forgoing his telescope. Molly was there again, same place, same defiant yell. Caleb smiled and sat down next to Molly.

“He/him,” Molly said absently, watching as the paper burned. He was wearing another pair of black skinny jeans, without the rips this time, and the loose grey jacket, unzipped slightly to reveal a binder. He was still barefoot, and his toenails were painted black.

“Genderfluid?” Caleb asked.

“Oh, yah. Switch around and all.” Mollymauk started writing again, running the piercing on his tongue against his teeth. Caleb took the opportunity to analyze his tattoos. There was an eye on his hand, but one on his arm was covered by the jacket. One on his chest was partially visible before the binder covered it. Of course, the peacock feathers curled up from his collarbone and up his neck and onto his cheek. Must have hurt like hell to get. Sure looked pretty.

Molly tilted his head. “You’re staring,” he hummed. “I’m used to pretty boys being interested in my neck, so I don’t mind.”

Caleb blushed, because wow. Wow. “No, it’s not like- I just- tattoo,” he finished softly, wishing he would die of embarrassment immediately.

Molly just laughed. “It’s alright. Yes, it was expensive, yes, it hurt, no, I don’t regret them, yes, they mean something, no, I’m not telling you.”

Caleb nodded. “Okay.”

“Also you can totally kiss them if you want.”

“Do you always flirt with complete strangers?” Caleb asked.

“Only complete strangers who claim to be looking at stars but prefer to stare at me.”

Caleb snorted and looked up at the sky. Molly started burning another piece of paper.

“Why do you do that?” Caleb asked.

Molly shrugged. He held his knees close to his chest. “Helps. With the dysphoria. I guess. Better release for my feelings.”

Caleb nodded. “Can I have a piece?”

“Got something to burn?”

“Yah. But I’ll settle for a name.”

Molly raised an eyebrow, and handled him a paper and a pen and Caleb wrote down a name he hadn’t seen in years and then let Molly set it on fire.

———

Caleb showed up again three days later. Molly was there, but wasn’t burning anything. Molly was barefoot again, wearing the usual black skinny jeans (with holes) and the grey jacket, wearing a black sports bra instead of a shirt. Caleb cleared his throat and tried to find somewhere to put his eyes. Mollymauk grinned at him.

“They/them,” Molly said.

“You know, I’m never going to expect your fashion sense, am I?” Caleb asked, gesturing to Molly.

“One of us has to be unpredictable. Meanwhile you’ve worn the same worn out jeans, and jacket for the past- do you even own any other clothes?”

Caleb huffed. “I _like_ this jacket.”

Molly rolled their eyes. “If you say so.”

Caleb smiled. “What, no burnt deadnames tonight?”

“Don’t feel bad tonight.”

“Then why are you still here?”

“Because if I didn’t, you’d get all worried. Probably give a nervous stutter.” Molly put their hands in their pocket, leaning forward and grinning. Caleb tried not to stare- not at Molly’s smooth stomach and the golden belly button ring, not at the portion of their tattoo that was showing, not their… chest, and not their eyes. There didn’t seem to be a safe place to look.

Molly was pretty.

Caleb kept coming even though he hadn’t looked at the stars since that first night.

———

Molly immediately handed him a piece of paper the next time he showed up to the beach

“I don’t want to burn anything-“ Caleb started, then looked at it. A string of seven numbers. A phone number.

“This yours?” Caleb managed.

Molly smirked. “No, I thought Yasha looked too happy with her girlfriend and gave you her number. Yes, it’s mine.”

“Cool.” Caleb folded up the paper and put it in his pocket.

“At least I got you to change that damn jacket,” Molly hummed. “Oh, and she/her.”

Caleb looked down at his jacket. It was old, and he forgot where he’d gotten it, but it was definitely denim. He found it in the back of his closet and figured _why the hell not_?

The look Molly was giving him was the why not, apparently. She looked far too amused with this turn of events. Molly was dressed in a pair of shorts, finally preparing for the long weather, and a black T-shirt and a black jacket, the hood pulled up. It had cat ears on top.

“You don’t get to make fun of my fashion sense with that hoodie,” Caleb said.

“Excuse you, this was a _gift_ ,” Molly laughed. She turned around, showing Caleb the green eyes on the back. “Directly from New York. Yasha got it for me when she went to Cats.”

“Yasha’s your friend, I’m assuming?”

“Best friend,” Molly corrected. “And roommate. She’s the greatest.”

Molly got out a piece of paper and started to write again. “Got things to burn tonight.”

“That a question or a statement?”

“Yes,” Mollymauk said, and lit a match. She smiled a little. “The environment hates me, but the match and paper industries are built on my cash.”

Molly smelled like smoke. She always smelled like smoke. It clung to her, and it was vaguely off-putting. Underneath the smoke was something else- strawberries, maybe from her shampoo. It worked nice together.

“Worse habits to have,” Caleb shrugged, and Molly rubbed her arms before burning her deadname into ash.

———

Caleb called Molly the next morning.

“What a pleasant surprise.” Molly hummed, voice crackling over the line. “Still she/her. Pretty sure. Eh, who fucking cares this _early_ in the morning.”

Caleb laughed. “It’s eight a.m.”

“No reasonable person is up this early,” Molly groaned.

“I’ve been up for an hour.”

“You’re not human.”

Caleb just rolled his eyes. “How late do you usually sleep in?”

“As long as I damn want to.” She laughed.

Caleb heard a crash downstairs. “Oh- fuck, I better go see what Nott broke.” It had to be Nott, because Frumpkin was an angel of a cat who never broke anything.

“Who’s Nott?” Molly asked, surprisingly cheerfully for someone who claimed to not be a morning person.

“Little sister, I’ll- see you tonight, I guess?”

“Yah,” Molly said. “I’d like that.”

She hung up, and Caleb ran down to see Nott. A bowl had slipped and broken, and Nott was picking it up with her hands.

“No, no no no,” Caleb said, shooing her away and grabbing a broom.

“Sorry Caleb,” Nott said softly. Caleb smiled to show he wasn’t mad and kept cleaning up.

Nott was seventeen, and his foster sister. She had moved here for college, and trailing like a lost dog Caleb had followed. She hadn’t complained, but Caleb chalked that up to the fact he let her work part time at his book store and gave her discounts on her textbooks.

“You were on the phone with someone,” Nott said, because her hearing was good and she was right. “Who?”

“Someone I met on the beach. Molly.”

Nott whistled, and Caleb swatted at her with the broom.

———

Molly was down at the beach that night, feet resting in the soft sand that got hit by small waves, burning her deadname. She was dressed mostly the same, shorts and a hoodie that covered her arms and shirt.

“She/her or they/them is good,” Molly said as Caleb sat down. “You know, you’re, like, the only single guy I know who makes a point of not staring at my tits.”

Caleb let out a choking noise, face turning red. He _knew_ Molly said things like that to get a reaction out of him, because maybe that was just what Molly did. They were laughing at him a little.

“Well- you- I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Caleb said softly. “You seem to have a… complicated relationship with them.”

Molly smiled a little. They went back to burning their name without a word. “You’re right,” Molly said, not looking at him. “Have you always been this perceptive?”

Caleb shrugged. “I wouldn’t say that. I just know the feeling.”

“So, you’re trans, right?”

“Yeah.” Caleb hadn’t ever really “come out” since he transitioned, years ago. Molly offered him a fist bump. “Birds of a feather, I guess,” she said.

Caleb accepted her fist bump and stared at the stars while Molly burned their deadname.

———

Caleb couldn’t go to the beach for a couple of days because of work at the bookshop, but Molly texted. Incessantly.

_which bookstore u at. i could drop by if u want :)_

Caleb just rolled his eyes. **_You wouldn’t have heard of it. It's just a hole in the wall. Also, I’m working._ **

Molly texted back, adorably ungrammatical as always, _alright but kno that im thinking about u :)_

Caleb tapped his fingers on the front desk where the cash register was. They were thinking about him, whatever that meant.

Molly thought about him.

Caleb smiled a little to himself and put his phone in his back pocket, continuing to reorganize the shelves.

———

“He/him,” Molly said, not even looking at Caleb. He knew who came down to the beach to meet him almost every night.

It had warmed up dramatically recently, and Molly was still wearing long sleeves. At least he’d moved on from heavy hoodies to light jackets, unzipped and practically falling off his shoulders. His T-shirt was a size too small, and he was wearing jeans still, just not skinny jeans.

“I don’t think you understand the concept of _summer,_ ” Caleb noted.

Molly rolled his eyes. “It cramps my style.”

Caleb was pretty sure Molly’s style was “whatever looks cool” to varying degrees, but that was fine. It worked.

“No burning tonight?”

“Too tired.”

“Alright.” Caleb finally pointed at the sky. “Hey, look. Stars are out.”

Molly nodded. Neither of them really spoke, but quietly watched the stars. Molly eventually fell asleep, leaning on Caleb’s shoulder, where Caleb’s jacket hood had fluffed up to create a pillow. He didn’t snore, but he mumbled in his sleep, twitching occasionally.

Caleb heard a phone ring that wasn’t his. Must be Molly’s. Carefully, he reached into Molly’s jacket pocket and pulled it out. Yasha was calling. Molly had mentioned her before- a roommate, so Caleb answered for him.

“Molls, you’re usually home by now, and you tell me if you won’t be, are you alright?”

“Hi,” Caleb said.

“Oh. Hello. Is Molly with you? Is he okay? Who are you?”

“Yah, yah, he’s fine, he’s with me. I’m Caleb.”

Yasha laughed a little. “Oh, he’s told me about _you_ ,” and Caleb hoped it was good things.

“Sorry, he fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake him up. He said he was tired.” It was such a stupid sounding excuse. Molly hummed and mumbled something nonsensical about pigeons and snuggled closer to Caleb and he caught his breath and yah, that was why Caleb hadn’t woken him up.

“It’s fine. I’m just glad he’s okay. He’s a bit of an idiot,” Yasha said. “You’re at the beach, right? I’ll come pick him up. Do you want a ride home, too?”

“No, that’s fine, thank you.”

“I’ll be right there.” Yasha hung up.

Caleb kept careful watch until finally a tall woman, pale as a ghost with pitch black hair, strode up. “I’m Yasha,” she said, holding out her hand to Caleb. “Nice to meet you, Caleb. Can I have my friend back now?”

Caleb gestured to Molly, still fast asleep. “Be my guest.”

“Oh, that idiot has you trapped.” Yasha rolled her eyes. They were two colors, Caleb noted. She also had impressive strength, because she scooped up Molly like a potato sack. He muttered something and then fell silent.

Fuck. He was cute.

“I’ll see you around, Caleb,” Yasha said, carrying Molly away to a big blue truck in the distance.

Caleb sat at the beach a little longer, trying to deal with the realization that Molly was _cute_.

———

Molly called the next morning. “Yasha told me what happened. Sorry for using you as my own personal pillow.”

“No problem,” Caleb said. His phone was on speaker as he made eggs, Frumpkin curling around his legs.

“Thanks for letting me sleep, though. Kinda needed that.”

Caleb could visualize the ever present dark circles under Molly’s eyes. “Again, it wasn’t a problem. Yasha seems cool.”

“She’s the _greatest_. Still made me pay five dollars to be carried, though. The only thing that makes me feel better is she does that to her girlfriend, too.”

Caleb snorted. “You’re joking.”

“Only a little. That’s how they met. Beau was trashed and Yasha helped her to her friend’s car, and Beau kept trying to get Yasha to carry her. The price was five dollars. Beau couldn’t pay up. Next time they met, she could, and wrote her phone number on the bill. Yasha was bright red for at least an hour. It was beautiful.”

Caleb laughed again. “That’s fantastic.”

“And Jester ended up hooking up with Beau’s friend like, a week later,” Molly babbled. “His name is Fjord, you’d like him, he’s nice, he’s quiet, _great_ arms-“

“I thought you said your friend was with him.”

“I’m trying to get them to consider an open relationship. It’s not fair for Jester to keep Fjord to herself.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. Nott popped her head in, still wet hair clinging to her face. She technically lived in the dorms, but she stayed at Caleb’s place sometimes on the weekends. “I smell food.”

“Yeah, I made breakfast. Gotta go, Molly.”

“Bye,” he said cheerfully as Caleb hung up. Nott raised an eyebrow, eyes glittering. “So. Molly.”

“What?” Caleb asked.

“Do you like him?”

“I-“ Caleb shook his head with a laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”

Nott, notoriously good at seeing through his bullshit, just narrowed her eyes. “Whatever you say. Now can I have some eggs?”

Caleb made her a plate of eggs and went to work and had a normal day, and didn’t stop thinking about how Nott said he likes Molly, and he started to think maybe she was right.

Molly wasn’t at the beach that night, so Caleb had some alone time. He could see why Molly liked the beach- the waves were a calming sound, the sand felt nice, and this late there was no one out there to judge as he screamed.

Caleb didn’t stay long once it became clear Molly wouldn’t show. He wondered if he’d just gotten busy, or just didn’t feel like burning his deadname tonight.

———

Molly didn’t show up the next two nights, and Caleb was about five seconds away from filing a missing person report when a woman with short blue hair ran up to him. She was shaking, and her eyes were red like she’d been crying. “Are you Caleb?” She asked.

“Yes,” he said, and panic gripped him. “What’s wrong? Is something wrong with Molly?”

The girl started to tear up again. “Yeah,” she rasped. “I’m- I’m Jester, by the way.”

“Is Molly okay?” Caleb asked even though he knew the answer had to be no, he needed to know _details_.

Jester paused, then shook her head. “They… Molly’s been hospitalized.”

Caleb’s heart froze in his chest. “What?”

“They… they, I don’t know the details, but something happened. I think they got mugged, they were bleeding from their cheek, and that would explain the knife. And then they were left alone with a knife and blood and… Molly relapsed, and a woman found them in a pool of their own blood and- oh, God.” Jester covered her mouth with her hand. Caleb held out his arms to offer a hug and Jester buried herself in his arms, shaking. “I’m an EMT,” she whispered, and Caleb connected the dots.

“I’m alright, I’m alright,” Jester whispered, pulling away. “Anyways, Molly’s fine, they’re stable, vitals are strong, but they’re being hospitalized. They practically begged for it. I think this really scared them.”

Yah, no shit. Caleb was scared and he wasn’t even directly involved. “But they’re going to be okay?”

“Yeh,” Jester said, nodding. She wiped her eyes. “It’s going to be rough for a while, but it’s… it’ll be okay.”

“Alright,” Caleb said, letting out a shaky breath. He attempted to smile. “I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”

“Me too,” Jester whispered. “Molly talks about you a lot. It’s like you’re a superhero. Personally, I think you’re a bit smelly.”

Caleb huffed. “I should go. It was nice to meet you.”

Jester clapped her hands and dug around in her purse. She offered him a donut and a slip of paper. “That’s my number. Call me if you ever need me.”

Caleb took the donut and the paper. “Thank you,” he said. “If you can, tell… tell Molly I… that I hope they’re okay.”

It sounded so pathetic, but Jester seemed to understand. “I’m sure they’ll appreciate the support,” she said. “Good night.”

“Good night,” Caleb agreed and he went home. He didn’t sleep well.

———

A week and a half later, Caleb’s phone rang.

“Hey,” Molly’s gentle voice said.

“Molly!” Caleb couldn’t help but grin. “You’re okay? You’re alright? How are you? Wait, before all that- pronouns?”

Molly laughed a little. “They/them. And I’m fine. Promise. Sorry for worrying you.”

“As long as you’re okay,” Caleb said quietly.

“I’m good now. I’m fine.” Molly paused. “Hey, why don’t you come over? I’ll text you my address.”

“Sure,” Caleb said. Business at the store was slow today anyways.

“Awesome. See you in a bit.”

Molly texted him their address as soon as they hung up. Caleb was there about twenty minutes later- the glories of public transportation. He knocked on the door and Molly opened it.

Most of their earings had been taken out, leaving two simple silver studs in. They were wearing sweatpants and a black T-shirt that read _can’t think straight_ , with a jacket tied around their waist. For the first time, Caleb saw their arms.

The tattoo winding down one arm was interesting and just as beautiful as the rest of their tattoos, but partially obscured by white gauze that had been wrapped around. Molly shrugged in a _what can you do_ kind of way. “Jester insisted on the bandages, even though the cuts are all scabbed over. It’s the least I owe her after nearly giving her a heart attack.”

Molly didn’t smell like Molly anymore. Their usual scent- burned paper and strawberry shampoo -had been covered up by the distinctive smell of _hospital._ They looked tired, the bags under their eyes pronounced, but they kept a smiling face for Caleb.

Caleb reached out to hug them, and Molly practically melted in his arms with a sigh. “You’re okay,” Caleb muttered, because he didn’t know what else to say.

Molly nodded into Caleb’s shoulder. This was enough.

“Come on, I want to show you my room,” Molly said suddenly, dragging Caleb through the place. It smelled nice, like incense, and Molly’s room was marked with an elaborately decorated chalkboard sign that read _The Incredible Mollymauk Tealeaf_.

“I work from home,” Molly said. “Telling fortunes and shit like that. It’s fun, but not a very steady income. Yasha, bless her practical heart, is a civil defense lawyer.”

“I run a bookstore, so I’m the perfect mix of practical and fanciful,” Caleb reminded them, and they laughed, opening the door.

Molly’s room was an explosion of paint. Each wall was a different color, with splatters on top of that. Caleb touched one of the more familiar pattern of splatters. “The bi flag.”

Molly nodded. “Genderfluid one is over there.” They jerked their head towards the far wall. The ceiling was painted with stars, in actual constellations.

Molly turned off the lights, and the stars glowed slightly. Caleb looked at them in awe. “Did you do all this?”

“Oh, hell no,” Molly snorted, turning the lights on again. “Jester. Girl has a _gift_ , let me tell you. Nah, I just told her what to do.”

“Didn’t know you liked stars, too,” Caleb said, gesturing up.

“Actually those are new. Commissioned Jester a few days after our second meeting.”

“Oh,” Caleb said quietly. Suddenly he didn’t know what to say.

Molly smiled a little, stepping one step closer. “‘Cause, you know. It’s you. It’s always been you, I guess. From the first night, maybe. I don’t know.”

No, Molly still smelled like Molly, underneath the steril hospital smell, like smoke and strawberries. It was easy to tell, with them so close. They blinked at Caleb, and said softly, “I kind of want to kiss you.”

Caleb’s phone chose that moment, that exact moment, to ring. He backed away from Molly, stuttering the beginnings of an apology before answering. “Yes, Nott- I’m sorry, _what_ did you just say? There was a- you burned down a- are you hurt? Is anyone _else_ hurt? Are you expelled? No? Good, just- oh, wow, hold on, I’ll be right there.”

Caleb just gave Molly an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry, it’s Nott, I have to- I have to go. Thank you.”

Caleb rushed out the door and was already halfway to the bus station before he realized he’d told Molly _thank you_.

———

Caleb hit his face against the pillow, groaning.

“You really did,” Nott said, Frumpkin in her lap. “You really did that.”

“I _thanked_ them,” Caleb moaned. “Molly told me they wanted to _kiss_ me, and I _thanked_ them.”

“That is a whole new level of idiocy that I had no idea could be reached by humans. Congratulations, Caleb Widogast, you win.”

“Win what? World’s dumbest bisexual award?” Caleb groaned again. “I fucking _thanked_ them.”

“You should call them. Or text them. Or run back and profess your undying love. You’ve been pining long enough,” Nott huffed. “I refuse to let you walk away from this by only telling them _thank you_.”

“I don’t pine,” Caleb argued.

“No,” Nott agreed. “You thank.”

Caleb snatched his cat back from Nott’s lap. Frumpkin gave a low _mrrp_ and snuggled into him. “Mean little sisters don’t get to hold _my_ cat.”

Nott stuck her tongue out at him. “I have an essay to do. You go get your love life together, dumbass.”

———

Molly was at the beach that night, wearing the same outfit from earlier, but with the jacket on instead of tied around their waist, burning their deadname into ashes. Caleb sat down next to them. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

They didn’t talk about the fact that Molly had said they wanted to kiss Caleb and Caleb had said thank you.

———

“We need to talk,” Jester said over the phone.

Caleb blinked his eyes open. “I’m sorry? Why are you calling me at three a.m.?”

“Because you- arg! Fjord, tell him!”

A deep voice with a slow southern drawl started talking. “Jester’s up in arms because you never gave Molly a yes or no or any kind of sign of interest and now he’s moping and Jester wants you to fix it.”

“Yes! Thank you! Which, by the _way_ , that is the context you are _supposed_ to say thank you in!”

Caleb rubbed his eyes. “Alright, I get it. I’ll call him.”

“Now.”

“I’m so sorry about her,” Fjord said, and Jester gave a little gasp.

“Just… if you aren’t interested, be nice about it, alright?” Jester said finally. “Molly… Molly has a gentle heart.”

Caleb nodded, then remembered Jester couldn’t see him. “Birds of a feather,” he managed, stealing Molly’s phrase.

“Alright. Good. Goodnight!” Jester hung up cheerfully.

Caleb groaned and flopped back into bed, staring up at the ceiling. He wondered how often Molly stared up at his own ceiling, painted in stars, because Caleb fucking liked stars. Molly got glow in the dark stars painted on the ceiling because _Caleb liked stars_.

Molly might be in love with him. The crazy thing was, Caleb was pretty sure he loved him back.

What the fuck did he do with that?

———

When it was a reasonable hour (no longer _three a.m._ ) Caleb texted Molly.

**_Hey can we talk? Sorry for running out on you the other day._ **

Caleb stared at his phone. Five minutes. Seventeen minutes. Fourty three minutes. An hour and two minutes. Three hours.

Molly was never going to speak to him again, Caleb decided. Yep, Molly hated him now. Dammit. _Dammit_.

Finally, _finally_ , Molly texted back. _it’s no big deal rlly_

**_I’m still sorry. And I never really said anything back._ **

_forget it. slipped out in the moment. nevermind. just felt like the cheesy right thing to say i just kinda wanted a distraction. sorry u deserve better than that_

Caleb stared at his phone. **_Glad we talked about it._ **

_srry_

**_It’s fine, honestly._ **

And it was. It was totally fine.

It just meant Caleb was now dealing with a newly realized unrequited crush, but _whatever_.

———

Nothing much changed, though. Life went on. Caleb worked at his book store, Nott went to school, and at night he went down the beach to burn paper with Molly.

Eventually it got too warm for Molly to wear his ever present assortment of jackets, and his arms had scarred over and were less obviously covered in gauze, so his arms were open to the air and Caleb stared at his unobscured tattoos.

There were vines and flowers curling down his arm, the snake eye on his hand. Every color was bold and precise, and Caleb could see the hints of the tattoo disappear behind the _I flexed and the sleeves fell off_ tank top Molly said he’d stolen from Yasha. The tattoo continued onto his back and onto his chest. Caleb had the fleeting thought he wanted to see the entire tattoo, but that would require seeing Molly shirtless and that thought caused his heart to give a tapdance.

Molly rolled his shoulders. “You are entirely unsubtle. Like them?”

“They’re beautiful,” Caleb said softly. He was half a heartbeat away from saying _you’re beautiful._

“Thanks,” Molly grinned. He set his deadname on fire and laughed as he did. He turned to Caleb. “I know it’s weird. But it’s _freeing_.”

Really it was impossible for Caleb to not fall in love with Mollymauk in that moment, as if he hadn’t already.

———

“I’m staging an intervention,” Nott said, arms crossed.

“Nott, don’t you have class?”

“I can get notes from someone else. But you are _hopelessly_ in love with Molly, and you refuse to tell them.”

“Because it’s nothing,” Caleb argued. “Molly obviously doesn’t feel the same way, so why bring it up?”

“Because you’re the most oblivious motherfucker in the universe and I’ve heard the way Molly talks to you. That’s what someone in love sounds like.”

“You’ve never even met Molly,” Caleb argued. “That’s just- that’s just what they talk like.”

Nott rolled her eyes. “Actually I talked to Molly earlier.”

“You _what_?” Caleb yelped.

Nott gave a smirk. “You should know better than to leave your phone laying around. I introduced myself, and Molly is smooth, but they don’t talk to me like they talk to you.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. “Shut up, you’re like, twelve. Go to class.”

Caleb shooed Nott out the door despite her protests, and he sighed, rubbing his forehead. He had to go to work.

The bookstore always had quiet business, never bustling but with a few regulars. There was someone in the back, looking for a present for their kid, leaving Caleb alone the most part with his own book. The bell on the door jingled, and Caleb looked up. “Welcome, can I help you-“ he started then froze.

Molly stood in front of him, wearing the loose grey shirt and pink blue white shirt from the first time they’d met. Caleb froze. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Molly said. “Nott… Nott told me where this was and… ah, do you have anything gay?”

Caleb kept staring because Molly was in his shop. He cleared his throat. “Um, yah, definitely.”

“Cool. And she/her, by the way.”

Caleb nodded and lead her over to the shelf of the store that advertised a few of Caleb’s personal favorites. At least half of them were at least a little gay.

Molly tapped on the cover of _Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda._ “Aren’t they making this one a movie?”

“Um, yah. Do you want it?”

“We should go see it,” Molly said, not looking at him.

Caleb cleared his throat. “I mean, I think I have room in my schedule for that.” Friends went to see movies together.

“Cool,” Molly muttered. She wandered over to the kids section, tapping on a Rick Riordan book Caleb hadn’t read. “The love interest is genderfluid in this one,” she said quietly. “She gets the guy.”

“I haven’t read it,” Caleb said.

“It’s pretty good. Not perfect, but good. And Alex Fierro isn’t a fucking coward,” Molly said. She turned to look at Caleb. Her eyes glittered. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

And she did. She leaned up and in and kissed him and Caleb clung to her jacket and tried to keep her there, tried to keep her with him.

Up close, it was obvious how much she smelled like smoke and strawberries. She didn’t taste like either- she tasted like grape jelly and toast. Maybe that had been her breakfast.

Caleb had to pull away first because he remembered he was technically at work. He felt his ears turning red. “That was nice,” he said.

“Sorry,” Molly whispered.

“What for?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hey, I have to get back to work. But about that movie- how does next Friday work?”

Molly blinked like she was surprised. “Works great,” Molly said.

“Then it’s a date.” Caleb went back to the front register and Molly didn’t actually end up buying anything.

———

_when u say date do u mean friend-date or date-date?????????_

Caleb rolled his eyes. **_Molly I made out with you in my bookstore. It’s a date-date._**

_ooh okay !!!!!!!!!!!!_

**_I’m busy tonight but I’ll see you tomorrow, okay love?_ **

_ok_

———

The next night Caleb went to the beach and Molly was there. “They/them,” they said. “You called me love. That’s supposed to be my thing. I’m supposed to be the flirty one, the one who likes pet names, and-“

Caleb gently took their hand. “Mollymauk,” he said. “I’m in love with you.”

“I was kind of lying about not wanting to kiss you that one time,” Molly said. “‘Cause I’m pretty sure- like about 110% sure -that I’m in love with you, too.”

They stared at each other. Caleb didn’t let go of their hands. “What now?” Caleb asked.

“Well, we have a date on Friday.”

“Yah. Yah, we do.”

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands and my dnd blog is witchlight-dnd and i Would lay down my life for molly


End file.
